Ch387 up now! The battle with Takako is over, but the fallout from her reign has left a scar on Yuki and his friends. Now caught up by her own power, Yumi must finally confront that which she desires the most. Can Yumi face her demons or be swallowed up by her power. If you review I'll return the favor.

Author's
Notes: Hey all! For those that are frequent visitors of my
series, they will find this a little strange. For new visitors, this
will hopefully be more helpful. Vague yes, but explanation coming.
Anyway, so what is going on here? Well I have a currently running
series here, however as I noticed a while ago (and pointed out once)
the beginning is well a little flat. So I'm remedying that problem
by providing a hook that should grab you.

Now for some
details. What I did was take the original first sub-arc Awakening
and condensed the bulk of it into a double length chapter. However,
I must warn you now new and old visitors alike that condensed is not
a completely accurate word here. I took the basic idea that was the
bsub-arc and made it fit into a single chapter since in a manner of
speaking the first sub-arc is the hook. What this means for those of
you reading is that as I'm calling it Chapter 0 – Pilot is more
closer to a retelling of the first sub-arc. Events are significantly
altered from Awakening compared with Pilot. So if you've read
Awakening already then you might get some enjoyment out of this new
chapter that features mostly original material. I did grab from
Awakening, but most ended up the cutting floor. However, if you
haven't read the series and this is your first time I do suggest
reading Pilot first. It's meant to give you a taste of the series
and grab you. However, because events play out significantly
different from Pilot and Awakening I do advise reading Awakening
starting at Chapter 1. I also spend a lot more time explaining
things in Awakening than Pilot and the last couple chapters of
Awakening do not even appear in any form in Pilot. So pleased don't
skip otherwise you could feel confused and lost.

I hope that
you enjoy this new telling of Awakening. The changes I have made
have altered my ideas of the current series making me question if I
won't alter them at a later date. However, for now Pilot is
independent, but the attention grabber for you read more. Please let
me know your thoughts!

If you review
me will return the favor and review something of yours, just hope you
don't mind the length.

Series
Details:

Name:
Shift

Style:
Shonen Jump Manga

Genre:
Action-Adventure/Drama/Comedy

Rating:
Teen (minor amounts of rough language, not graphic violence, but
plenty of blood and injures to be expected and possible romantic
situations)

Complete
Summary:(SPOILERS) Yuki was a normal boy starting his
first year in high school. The worst he had to deal with was
sleeping in class, an overactive imagination and bullies throughout
the school. However, his school life is suddenly turned upside when
he is attacked by a man with the power to bring anything into
reality. When his family is attacked he awakens his own powers
discovering that he is not alone. Now Yuki must pretend to lead a
normal school life while keeping his imagination from controlling his
powers and stay alive as assassins that are trying to prevent him
from returning to become heir of his long forgotten people.

*
* *

The castle
was safe now; it had been defended well against the overwhelming
numbers of enemy soldiers that laid siege to its walls. As the
rising moon bathed its warm pale blue light over the field the
victorious champion of the people stood up pulling his sword free
from its bloody corpse that held it like a sheath. The blood of
those he had slain was coating his dulled battle-worn armor allowing
a subtle glow in the moonlight to surround him. Through labored
breathing and aching muscles he marched through the battlefield of
death where the Lord Armuti waited for him.

He knelt down
at the lord's feet saddened in the loss of so many, but relieved
for the battle to be over. Lord Armuti lowered his hands on the
champion's shoulders displaying a proud smile for the miraculous
victory achieved. The lord grabbed him then by the sides of his arms
insisting that he no longer kneel. "Champion Yuki, your name shall
ring from these halls ever more! All praise Champion Yuki!"

The
remaining soldiers gathered around the two shouting with Lord Armuti
in honor of their champion. All cried out his name for him to hear
echoing through fields. "Champion Yuki! Yuki! Yuki!" They
repeated their chant clashing their swords against their shields
building the champion to a smile.

"Yuki!
Yuki… Yuki! Yuki…Yuki…" Amongst the chanting there was
another distinct voice that he could hear rising over the others in a
different tone. He barely acknowledged it at first, but it was
persistent refusing to give up calling to him. As each call to his
name came the voice became clearer and clearer until he could tell
that it was a girl's voice mixed in with all of the men. The voice
drew him away forcing his focus on it. "Yuki…time to wake up!"

The entire
world went black suddenly washing away as though it had all been
freshly painted pealing way under the pressure of water. All that he
could see was the black void around him and then a narrow line of
light that slowly widened revealing his desk and the soft warm glow
of Ayumi Nishimura's green eyes shining in his blurring, not quite
drooling yet face. "Morning Yuki!"

Chapter 0 –
Pilot

"Huh?
Oh…its homeroom…" he said pulling his head away from his arms
to lean back in his chair. It was still early before the teacher
arrived, but he already had fallen asleep, though it was more that
his imagination wandered than it was about the sleep.

Ayumi smiled
at him keeping from giggling too much knowing how much of a daily
occurrence this was with Yuki. It happened nearly every day that she
could remember that she would have to wake him up from his dreams.
Though there were times that he woke up the class getting a little
too involved in his dreams and starting to act them out in his sleep.
"Don't want Ms. Kuniyoshi catching you sleeping. You know how
she is."

Yuki laughed
weakly as his memory of the last time she caught him sleeping was
still fresh in his mind (it was yesterday). The thought made him a
little blue in the face, but he shook his head to get rid of the
feeling. "Y-Yeah! Thanks, Ayumi!"

"…Yuki…"
Ayumi walked away from Yuki smiling at him.

Yuki could
not help but grin to himself before he was slapped on the back.
"Hey, Yuki! Sweet talking with Ayumi again?" Hiroshi said with a
mischievous grin on his face as he pulled up a chair from another
desk to sit down at his side. Yuki and Hiroshi had only recently
become friends, when they started attending as freshmen at Monou High
School a month and half ago, however that did not stop Hiroshi from
acting very familiar with him as though they had known each other
forever. It was always that way with Hiroshi, forward and pleasant
with a joke ready whenever the situation needed it (or when it
didn't).

"W-What?!
Hiroshi…" Yuki's face became red as embarrassment took him
over and he tried to deny Hiroshi's claim. When his flush face
became visible Hiroshi's grin only increased making Yuki waving his
hands trying to further deny it. "It's not like that! I've
known Ayumi since we were little. We're just friends!"

Hiroshi
rested his arms on the back of the chair as he leaned in against the
chair's back resting his head on his arms. "Then why're you
denying it so much. Wish my friends would wake me up like that…"

"What girl
would want to wake up a pervert like you?" a girl said from behind
the two of him that cast a heavy dark shadow with the glowing eyes of
a demon that pierced down upon Hiroshi.

Hiroshi
turned blue in an instant as he pulled back away from Yuki. "S-Saki!
How long you've been standing there?!"

"Long
enough, Hiroshi… Yuki's not like you and your twisted mind…"

"We were
just joking, right? Yuki?" He looked over at Yuki for some
assistance in calming down Saki.

"Good
morning, Saki!" Yuki said as though the entire conversation had not
occurred. He smiled up to her with an innocent very absentminded
glow in his face. Yuki was the weakness Saki had turning her back
into a normal high school girl smiling (also ignoring the last
minute).

"Morning,
Yuki!"

"Practice
again?"

"Yeah…still
getting used to the new coach…"

Hiroshi
peeled away from the chair seeing his opportunity to get away safely.
It made him thankful that there was at least one person that could
control the wild girl, Saki. The look in her eyes was enough to
scare most boys away immediately and her other talents made the rest
disappear even faster. However, class was starting now that Ms.
Kuniyoshi was entering the room making the stray students return to
their seats.

* * *

Lunch had
arrived for everyone. Many of the students stayed in the class to
have their meals, but Yuki was disappearing out of the class with a
look that said he had to do something, even if there was some
confusion mixed in with it. Hiroshi had tried to stop him, but Yuki
was too fast for him to catch leaving it be. Unfortunately, Yuki's
speed was not what he needed in the halls as he crashed into three
boys that were looking unruly. The collision threw their food up
into the air spilling it out across the floor, completely ruined.

Yuki backed
up away from them seeing the glaring glow of anger building in their
eyes as they clinched their fists together leaning in towards him.
"I'm sorry! I wasn't looking!" He extended out his hands
hoping to keep them back, but it did not seem to help as they pressed
in making his hands fold up against his chest.

"Oh ya hear
that? He's sorry!"

The boy on
the right laughed and snickered developing a mean smirk on his face.
"Yea, if he's sorry…"

"Then we've
got no problems!" said the boy in the middle before he threw his
fist into Yuki's stomach knocking the wind out of him. The punch
set him off balance and against the wall for support. The follow-up
brought him to the floor making him an easy target for them to kick.
All three boys took their opportunity to take advantage of a good bag
to kick (Yuki) and physically worked on getting their apology out.

Then suddenly
everything came to a grinding halt as though each frame was by held
out in a camera shutter to display each moment as a knee came into
frame planted firmly in the cheek of the leader. When time returned
to normal he was sent flying speedily across the hall with students
making way for him until he came flat against the wall cracking it
with his impression. The two remaining boy's face turned blue even
before this happened and were still reeling in shock trying to
understand what was happening.

The light
pulled over the one with the flying knee strike as they stood up
revealing it to be a female student with a darkened expression in her
face as her eyes glowed once more like a demons. She spun around
giving the two stunned boys the back of her foot and leg sending them
flying down the hall to join their unconscious comrade in the wall.
The students nearby the collision looked on a little frightened, but
quickly went about their lunch. The girl turned around to face Yuki.

This was Saki
Furukawa and her other talent…martial artist. She quickly changed
her demeanor as she offered her hand out for Yuki. "Bullies again,
Yuki? You need to watch your surroundings!"

"I'm
sorry, Saki…" Yuki took the help up and dusted himself off.
Most of the pain was already fading away, a trait that he was used to
and developed. "You're always saving me…" This too had
become a nearly daily occurrence for Yuki to end up on the wrong side
of a fist. He had the bad luck of always managing to find the
roughest most violent students in school to bump into. Which meant
that Saki, a long time childhood friend, would come to his rescue
every time her radar went off.

Saki sighed
softly and pulled Yuki away from the wall back into the middle of the
hall. "If you weren't so absentminded all the time… What
happened this time?"

"I bumped
into them on accident and ruined their lunch. I tried to apologize,
but—"

"They
didn't listen, of course. Where were you going?"

"Huh? Oh!
No! I've got to go!" Yuki jumped up alert and sped off down the
hall in a panic leaving behind a trail of dust with a confused Saki
staring on.

'Hope
I'm not late…' he thought to himself as he finished running
through the halls getting outside of the school. The school grounds
were large surrounded mostly by a brick and iron bar fence wall.
There were several sidewalks running through the grass connecting to
the other doors and buildings as well as leading out to the track
field. He slowed down his pace as he walked out towards the shed for
the school that held most of the equipment for sports. When he
reached the destination he pulled up his hand that held a small piece
of paper. He read the contents once more just to confirm for
himself.

'Meet
me behind the shed during lunch.'

There was
nothing further in the note and no name either. He did not know what
was going on, but he had read enough manga to get a pretty good idea
(delusions and fantasy had been playing through class in his mind).
The back of the shed held no one making him figure that he was still
early and so he waited.

However,
being Yuki he could not stand still for very long. His mind began to
wander and his dream from the morning began to come back to him. It
was playing from a different point, but he indulged himself. A rake
was resting against the wall of the shed and it became an immediate
target for him. He picked it up spinning it around his hands with
surprising dexterity. It came to a stop as he rested it against his
back pretending it to be a staff. He lunged forward with a thrust of
the rake letting it pierce the air. Then he swiped through the air
horizontally. It soon became a spear thrusting and poking it against
the shed.

A few thrusts
later he pulled it back and carried it in two hands as though it was
a claymore. He sailed the blade through the air hearing it sweep
through sharply. He took the chance to swing at the pole in the
ground near the shed for some feedback. It took a few hits from the
rake. On his last swing he went through the pole leaving it to
topple over as he sheathed his sword to the shed. He wiped his
imagination of the battle scars that he left on the shed not feeling
as restless. He walked over to the pole when he realized that it was
actually cut in two (thought it was his imagination). 'What
going on? I know sleep walk sometimes, but…' Yuki reached
out to touch the pole where it was cleanly cut through finding to be
real to his touch. He knelt down to the other half of the pole
attempting to pick it up (hoping that it was his imagination). His
hand grabbed it firmly picking it up and dragging to towards the
other half (it's real!). "Did I really do this? I just broke
school property!" Yuki began to panic turning his head side to
side to see if there was anyone that had seen him do it. "Whatta I
do?! Momoko'll kill me when she hears about this!"

Yuki dropped
pole backing away from it already getting freaked out by his own
imagination. His back clashed with the shed making him jump in
fright. He stumbled over his feet backing into the claymore that was
resting against the shed. The metal scrapping against the shed into
a clatter on the ground that made Yuki's hair stand straight up
sending vibrations through his entire body. "What was that noise?
That was…n't…" He did not want to look fearing what he was
going to see, but he could not resist it. It was as though his head
had a mind of its own and turned itself to force him to see the
claymore resting against the ground shining in the light reflecting
his face in its polished blade.

Yuki fell
back on his butt catching himself with his hands as the sword stared
back at him through is divided legs. "No! You aren't real!"
He kicked his foot out trying to push around the sword, but it only
crawled an inch. "I didn't use you to cut that pole! It wasn't
me! I didn't mean to! Honest!" He looked around the field
again checking for anyone. 'What's happening to me? Did I
finally go off the deep end?' He could feel his heart pounding
in his chest from the racing thoughts in his mind. A moment later,
he pulled himself up to crawl over to the sword wanting to test his
imagination. "It's just a really vivid dream, right?! Right?!"
Yuki's hand reached out for the hilt of the sword shaking
profusely fearing what this would mean. It took forever for him to
reach the sword, pulling himself back repeatedly, to take hold of the
hilt. The feeling was same as the pole (it was real). He held the
sword up to him feeling the blade calling to him seeing his
reflection glowing in it. He touched the blade with his hand taking
in the smooth pounded surface and the sharp looking edge. His finger
slid down the edge, wanting to test his reality, only to slice his
skin open making him drop the sword back to the ground as he held his
finger in his mouth to stop the bleeding.

He crawled
away becoming even more unnerved by what was going on. 'It
can't be!' Yuki picked himself up barely with his legs
shaking up through his body trying to get away from everything. The
unsteadiness in his limbs carried through to his core knocking him
off balance into the shed. He landed against the floor of the shed
painfully receiving the blunt force of the cement flooring into his
shoulder. The shaking did not stop and so he rolled over to his back
giving a moment to pause. An exhausted breath later he was feeling a
little better, but still uneasy. 'Just in my head! My head…'
He pulled himself up sitting in the shed trying to shake off the
weirdness. "Oh the track gear…" he said as he looked over at
the nearby equipment in the shed (still hasn't realized yet). Yuki
smiled to himself feeling better as he stood up testing his legs.
"Now I just have to get out of the shed!"

A few seconds
ticked by as he looked around the shed taking it in slowly (almost
there…). "The shed…wasn't I outside?" He could see that
he was inside the shed and the doors were locked and no holes in the
windows or anything (figured it out finally). "The shed… …What
am I doing inside the shed?! How'd I get here?" Yuki could feel
the shortness of breath coming back to him as panic rose up from his
stomach. He approached the empty wall where he was certain he should
have been trying to understand what was going on. However, as he
approached the wall a part of it disappeared. "…What the…"

First, it was
just at the bottom like a mouse hole or something small, but as he
pressed on it grew in size until there was clearly a semi-circle cut
into the shed. He stood in what would be the wall staring left and
right to the cross sections of the wall almost in awe. Since the
hole was present he walked through and back outside, but as he
stepped away the hole disappeared. "This is crazier than any dream
I could have…" He tested his mind and picked up a rock to throw
at the wall thinking that it was an illusion or something strange.
However, when the rock hit the shed and fell down he took a step
forward confused. Yuki had to know if the hole was still there and
approached the wall again finding the hole returning. He tried
moving around starting to feel like it was a game almost and wherever
he went it followed. It cut into anything it touched giving him
cross sections of balls, vaults, rope, anything and everything in the
shed. However, under the playful exterior Yuki was beginning to be
freaked out.

He looked
down at where it began seeing everything being cut into a hemisphere
that surrounded him with him at the center at all times. It was then
that he noticed that at his feet were blades of grass, while he was
in the shed. He jumped up and away thinking he could get way, but it
just followed him revealing, rather than moving, more grass. "What's
going on?! Is this a dream?" So much information was running
through his head that he had nearly reached his limit. Yuki ran out
of the shed and around the corner before he was grabbed by Ayumi.
"Ayumi?! I-I…"

"Yuki?!
What's wrong? You're sweating and… Yuki!?!" She could not
even finish her words before Yuki collapsed passing out to the ground
as everything following him disappeared. "Yuki!" Ayumi tried to
lift him up, but her panicked state could not hold anything as she
ran off screaming for help.

*
* *

'…Do
you ever…' said an unknown voice from a black void.

Yuki shifted
unable to move or open his eyes only feeling the emptiness that
surrounded him. "Who's there?"

'…Have
you ever…'

"What?"

'…alone…
…different…'

"What's
going on? Answer me!"

'…Yuki,
you…'

The voice was
beginning to fade away going further out of reach. He struggled to
pull himself up to strain against the void that was holding him back.
"Tell me what you want?!" Black hands stretched out grabbing
him by the shoulders and arms holding him in place so he could not
follow as the voice disappeared completely. "Come back!"

"Yuki!
Wake up!" Saki screamed slapping him across the face snapping him
out of the world he was trapped in.

Yuki looked
around the room seeing that he was in the nurse's office of the
school with Hiroshi and Saki both holding him at the arms to keep him
from getting out of the bed. When he realized that he was awake and
it had just been a dream he relaxed falling back into the bed. He
let out a long sigh feeling like he been living a nightmare for years
that he was finally released from. His head ached like it had been
split in two and beat around with a hammer afterwards. "What
happened…"

"…Yuki…"
said Ayumi from the foot of the bed that Yuki was resting in. She
stared at him with swollen and longing eyes like she had been crying
to herself for hours before.

"Don't
you remember, Yuki?" Hiroshi said leaning in from his side of the
bed staring at Yuki. All he got in return was a shake of the head
and a puzzled look that was unmistakable.

Saki lowered
her eyes taking it upon herself to get him caught up. "Ayumi found
you collapsed out by the equipment shed. She panicked and came to
get us so we could take you here."

None of that
was making any sense to him. He could not remember much of anything
apart from feeling run down and fatigued for a reason he could not
explain. "Doesn't ring a bell."

"What were
you doing out there anyway?" Hiroshi said stepping back in once
Saki had finished. "You missed lunch for it! You never miss
lunch!"

Yuki's eyes
widened in panic when he heard what Hiroshi said. "I missed lunch!
How could I miss lunch…" He quickly sank into depression as he
could feel his stomach starting to become angry with him.

"Well he
seems normal…" They could not help but smile and laugh at Yuki's
reaction, which was so typical of him. Things returned to normal for
them dropping the tension and stress. Yuki was left to rest in the
bed for the remainder of the school day given the unusual case of him
fainting. When school ended he was released, late though, and could
walk home with Ayumi as he did on most days.

Yuki paused
at his house looking up at it still trying sort through the fuzziness
in his head. It felt like he was missing or forgetting something
important, but could not place it.

"…Yuki?
You feeling alright?" Ayumi said coming up behind him.

He turned his
head to look at her putting on a pleasant smile. "Yeah, just feel
like I'm missing something. But I guess it must not be important."
Yuki stepped forward as the nagging poking in his head began to fade
away. He stopped again just as Ayumi was walking away to her house.
"Hey Ayumi? Want to come inside?"

Ayumi's
face glowed bright red immediately when she heard Yuki's
invitation. She noticed that he was staring at him waiting an answer
making her shake her head trying to push out the rush.
"Wel-Wha-Um-I…B-But…"

"It's
alright! Momoko likes it when you visit!" Yuki pulled back and
stretched out his arm behind Ayumi's back grabbing her by the
shoulder to drag her into the house. She protested, but Yuki's
suddenly boisterous attitude and smile could not be stopped for long.
"Hey Momoko! I'm home! And I brought Ayumi with me!"

There were
two stomping of feet down the stairs as Ken and Jun came to greet
Yuki at the door. Ken kept a little more distance than Jun, who
usually stuck to Yuki albeit always silent. Yuki's little brothers
smiled up to him grinning and greeting Ayumi before running off
through the house. Out of the kitchen in a store uniform came
Momoko, getting dinner ready before she had to leave for her job.
Yuki's older sister had a tired expression on her face that quickly
changed the moment that she saw she had a guest in the house.
"Ayumi! Welcome!" She held a large spoon in her hand coming to
meet them at the door, Ayumi still rough around the edges. "Why
don't you relax on the couch, Ayumi," she said with a pleasant
smile. "I'm just going to speak to my little brother here."

"A-Alright…"

Ayumi walked
off feeling a little out of place and sensing the ill aura between
the two siblings. Momoko smiled until Ayumi disappeared out of the
hall and turned back towards Yuki. "Late and bringing Ayumi!
Yuki, you know I have to work in twenty minutes. You need to be here
to watch your brothers after school!" Yuki passed around Momoko as
she was quickly souring his mood as she always managed to do every
time she opened her mouth. She grabbed him by the wrist to keep him
from running off before she was done. "I found them alone again
when I got back from class. You need to be more responsible, it's
just us to keep an eye on them, Yuki. You can't be slacking off on
this anymore." Yuki was tired of listening to her lecture and
pulled away his arm walking into the hall leaving Momoko at the
entrance. "You're fifteen! Yuki!" Momoko pushed back her
hair that had fallen around her face as she sighed to herself. "You
need to quit living in the past…"

Yuki stepped
into the living room having heard the same speech from Momoko for
longer than cared to remember. However, he felt some water drip on
his forehead halting him. He rubbed it away with the sleeve of his
school uniform and went back to walking around the area, but he was
hit again. The sleeve cleaned himself again, but he was hit twice
more before he looked up. "Blood? On the ceiling?" There was
a red pool gathering on the ceiling that was quickly spreading across
it. His eyes widened in shook as his iris shrank and he looked down
at his sleeve checking to confirm it for blood.

"It's
everywhere!" Ken said jumping up and down in an expanding pool of
blood nearby them. He did not understand what it was only finding it
to be a similar to water after it rained and just as fun.

Momoko and
Yuki looked around the house confirming for themselves that the house
was being covered in blood for no apparent reason. Yuki could see
panic slowly wash over Momoko as he looked over at Ayumi and watched
Momoko run for Ken and Jun. Yuki watched paralyzed as every surface
was slowly engulfed in blood. Once all was crimson the ceiling above
him suddenly gave way filling them up to their knees in a pool of
blood. It felt like it was crawling on him and soaking through his
skin. His paralyzed body could not move and his mind was empty
screaming through his mouth that would not budge. All that Yuki
could do was shake in uncontrollable horror as his house was pulled
part.

"Yuki!?!"
Ayumi screamed as she tried to get away from the blood that was
covering them quickly. She tried to reach out to him only to watch
everything around her begin to fall apart as it turned into blood and
collapsed. The cloudy late afternoon sky with thin rays from the sun
poured down on them tinting the blood an eerie color. The house's
walls collapsed spilling out the countless gallons of blood that
filled the house into the neighborhood. The sight was the same next
to them as there was nothing, but a field of blood on everything.
The neighbor's house was falling apart in a bloodied mess
accompanied by screaming.

A heavy
splash like the sound of a foot echoed through the area into Yuki's
ear. The paralysis ended, but he collapsed to the ground in fear as
every muscle in his body that had been tensed relaxed letting him go
free. His mind was empty, but his body understood all too well. All
he could do was sweat and shake violently making ripples in the
blood. "…Yuki Hayashi..."

A man stepped
forward towards Yuki. He was covered in blood it seemed while it had
a silk like cloth appearance as well. Every corner or edge of the
cloth dripped blood that the pool drank. This was only the clothes
that he wore that the blood flowed; the skin remained untouched by
the blood. The silk like material covered his large muscular chest
as a solid piece and tied off firmly at the waist by a black belt.
His pants seemed to continue on as though they were uninterrupted by
the belt left a little lose around the legs. Leather boots covered
in black and shining with crimson went up to his knees. His head and
arms remained bare with only gauntlets covering his muscular arms.
The man was as well built as he was tall and menacing, but none of
the muscles were to excess simply being well defined. His entire
presence breathed the sight of death.

Ayumi's
mouth wavered as her eyes shrank in the horrors that she witnessed.
She tried to scream for help, but fainted before anything could
escape her lips. Yuki's head jerked over to see her collapse in
the pool of blood that ran out. Another foot step towards him pulled
his head back. "Who are you?"

The man
turned a wicked smirk when he heard Yuki speak. "Who I am isn't
so important. What is however, is that I'm going to kill you."

"Kill me?
Why? I don't even know you! I didn't do anything!"

He pressed
his hands together pushing down the gauntlets on his arms. "True,
that is true. And you won't be able to do anything once you're
dead." As the man took another step forward the right gauntlet
changed its shape stretching the metal on top into a simple blade.

Yuki stumbled
backwards crawling to get to his feet trying to keep his distance
from the man that now stalked him with death in his eyes and on his
blade. "What?! Aren't you going to tell me why at least?" He
did not understand what was going on hoping that if he delayed things
that he would be able to hold out for the police to arrive in time to
stop this nightmare.

The man could
not help but smirk at Yuki's stalling easily recognizing what he
was trying to do. "This doesn't work like fiction. I'm not
going to be revealing my reasons or motives to you. You'll die and
then I kill your family. And then anyone that saw anything as well.
The dead don't need to understand." He had closed the distance
to Yuki during the conversation bringing him in reach to strike. His
arm came up bringing the blade to bare swiping at Yuki, who managed
to dodge out of the way nearly slipping in the process. "Hmm…got
some eyes on you…"

"I don't
need good eyes to see you swinging at me!" Yuki said as he brought
balance back to his body trying to keep his distance.

"Oh? Don't
like the blade? How about something more personal then?" He
lowered his arm down as the blade retracted back into the metal
gauntlet seamlessly. Then suddenly the blood pool pulsed in a wave
almost alive reaching out towards Momoko, who was guarding Jun and
Ken. Countless ripples appeared in the blood around them as spikes
of hardened blood shot out from the ground becoming more like
tendrils reaching out for them in their escape. Jun was first ripped
from Momoko's hand followed by Ken a moment later tying them up
with several of the tendrils that held him in the air. Momoko was
the last to be captured and suspended in the air. "How's that?"
Once they were bound more spikes drew up this time piercing Momoko
in the back making her cough up blood. Even more grew out cutting
and slicing in his family forcing him to hear their screaming.

"You
bastard! Leave them out of this!" Yuki charged around the man to
get to his brothers and sister, but two spikes from the blood shot up
nearly taking off his arm if he had not stopped. Even stopping, they
tore through his uniform grazing the skin. He looked down at his arm
checking before looking back at the man with anger in his eyes
developing.

Soon more
spikes grew up around the siblings making it impossible to get close.
"Anger now rather than fear. It's an improvement, but you're
still boring me." The man stepped forward raising up his fists
giving Yuki two punches across the face. Momoko strained against her
bindings shouting for Yuki. Yuki slid against the ground tasting his
blood from the cut on his lip. He narrowed his eyes charging for the
guy seeing that his options we limited, but he was stopped by a punch
to the stomach that knocked the wind out of him. The man pulled back
his other hand as three spikes form along the gauntlet around the
knuckles before he released his punch cutting him across the face.
Yuki took three more punches to the stomach and chest as his uniform
received more tears and his own blood seeped into the clothes.
Momoko was frantic screaming and trying to get free from the
restraints seeing the man transform his gauntlet back into the blade
while Yuki stood helpless to defend himself.

'I feel
so empty…my vision's blurry…' Yuki became taken in by a
black void with its inviting warmth. 'Am I going to die?'
It felt like his heart was slowing; the life was draining away from
him out of grasp. 'They're going to…die…' He
wrenched his eyes closed still hearing the dull echoing screams from
them. 'I can't do…anything…' The voices would not
stop pounding through his ears. '…It's my fault…'
His muscles turned away losing strength no longer having the will to
move. '…I…killed…them… …it's me… …alone…'

Saki suddenly
slapped Yuki across the face waking him up. She stared at him making
it unable for him to look anywhere else. "Come on, Yuki!"

"Saki?"

"You going
to let them keep bullying you?"

"But Saki I
can't…this isn't the same…"

"You're a
man right?"

"Huh?"

"Stand up!
You hear them shouting for you don't you?"

"Yuki!"
Momoko and Ken's voices rang out around him as though they had
always been there calling for him.

A heartbeat
pounded stronger once more returning from its silence. 'But
what can I do?' His heart shouted again this time cracks
formed along the void he was in. '…I must…I need…'
The sound pounded out again growing the cracks as some of the world
started to fall down into dust. '…I need to save them...'
The beat echoed around fiercer drawing cracks up to the top. '…I
need power…I need the strength…' Yuki closed his eyes
hoping, looking for anything that would give him that strength to
save his family. "Give me the power to protect my family!" His
heart pounded excited sending out shockwaves that cracked the entire
world until it crumbled to pieces.

"AH! Give
me power!" Yuki screamed through the plains of blood as his family
were held to watch in horror as the man approached Yuki for the
killing blow. 'I don't care what it is just allow me to save
them!' Blue waves continued to issue forth from Yuki violently
responding to his desire. The walls had come crashing down. A
bright light exploded from his body displaying an array of foreign
letters wrapped in circles covering Yuki expanding outward. As the
array expanded it reached the limit to which it could hold and
shattered to pieces. Once the light came to fade away Yuki was
standing staring down the man that tried to kill him and hurt his
family. The man had been forced to stay his hand in the blinding
display and stood waiting looking unimpressed.

Yuki slowed
his breathing closing his eyes. A moment later he opened his eyes
quickly shooting out a wave from his feet throwing back the blood
plains in a massive wave. Behind the wave was a blowing field of
tall grass and flowers that spread for as far as the eye could see.
When the blood ended Momoko, Ken and Jun were dropped from their
restrains into the soft grass slowly dripping blood.

The man's
face wrinkled in frustration knowing what had just happened. He
looked down at his feet to see that the only area of blood that
remained now was at his feet. It looked like his feet were emitting
blood where he stepped. This changed everything now. "…Your
powers have awakened..."

"I shall
protect my family!" Yuki shouted as he threw out his arm as though
to grab something. The wind blew up around him dragging the grass.
The grass was pulled free changing to green energy that gathered at
his hand building in length until it shined as a whole. As the light
from the energy faded away a massive sword appeared in Yuki's hand
far longer than he was. "I will end this now!"

Yuki's face
narrowed fighting emotions of anger and rage while barely being held
back by the thin threads of reason. However, there was no time for
reason with his family lying in the grass bleeding out. He could not
wait any longer. He had to give in. Yuki screamed out loud charging
forward with his sword held back preparing to swing. "This ends
now!"

The gigantic
sword was released while he was still running forward swinging down
at the man with surprising force. In a flash it was over and the man
stumbled backwards staring at his gauntlets and forward. It had gone
through his blood shield that had managed to summon from what little
field control he had left. After that Yuki had even shattered his
shield gauntlets. The metal of the guards fell to the ground dully
in the grass fading out of sight in the tall plants. 'He's
completely overpowered me. So this is the power…'

The stranger
barely summoned up a sword in time for the next assault, but it
shattered to pieces taken over by the sheer power pouring out of
Yuki. He had no room for control, but his own body. Yet that was
not going to be enough for him. The sword came in for a third strike
and he had nothing left to defend himself. He brought up his bare
arms as the sword sliced down his chest and forearms spraying blood
across his face. The man staggered backwards his arms at his side
unable to lift them with his blood dripping quickly down his skin.
The clothes that the man had been wearing suddenly evaporated
revealing clothes of white underneath that were pants and a shirt
that looked more like a cloth tossed over one shoulder and tied down
at the waist.

Yuki stepped
forward hanging the huge sword over his shoulder. "…D-Die…"
he said breathing heavily as he began to move his other hand to the
hilt of the sword. This man would suffer for what he did to his
family and he was the one that could do it. He nodded to himself as
he had spoken to confirm that he was correct. 'He must die…he
must…Die!' Yuki heaved the sword up bringing it over his
head to swing down at the helpless man. He was justified. This was
the right thing to do.

The sword
began to move while Yuki recited in his head the choice that had be
made. His rage shouted violently in anger bringing the sword down
with greater strength. This had to be done or else he would only
come back again. It had to end here. He was certain of this.
'Yuki!' The sudden voice in his head jerked his hand
opening his eyes to what was truly happening. However, the sword was
already in motion and could not be stopped. The shining blade
cleaved through hitting the firm ground behind coming to a stop.

"Huh?"
the stranger said in shock to having been spared by the kid. He
stepped back not certain what this meant for him.

Yuki tilted
his head up to the sky with his eyes pulled back in pain. 'Mother?'
He let go of the hilt of the sword staring down at his blood stained
hands almost choking on the thought that he had nearly killed
someone. 'I-I almost…I let it…control me…' His
hands tightened up as he realized how close he came to the edge.
Yuki dropped to his knee falling between the tall blades of grass
watching the blood drip down his arms crawling in horror at the
sight.

Before Yuki's
eyes a sword pierced through the back of the man and out the front
releasing blood into the air as the final breaths of the man escaped
his lips. He collapsed to the ground disappearing in the plant life
when the sword was extracted. Standing over him was Ayumi with a
cold dead expression on her face holding the sword thickly coated in
the man's blood. "Why did you hesitate?"

Yuki's eyes
had widened in shock at seeing his childhood friend do something so
terrible as to take a life. "What? Y-You killed him!" Yuki
stood up on his legs barely feeling the strength in him from the
devastating reaction of seeing someone so innocent covered in blood
with a merciless stare. "A-Ayumi? Why? Ayumi?"

"Because
you didn't. This man was sent to kill you." She looked down at
the dead man's body, her sword held in her hand, while her school
uniform dripped in blood. "He was going to kill your family!"
She pointed to Momoko and his brothers, now safe, barely visible in
the tall grass.

"B-But…why
Ayumi?! I've known you since were little! This isn't you!"

"That was a
lie!"

Yuki jerked
back unable to accept her answer. "No! It can't be!"

"I create
false memories of me in your mind, your family and your class. So I
could get close to you and watch you." She removed the sword from
sight letting it disappear into the grass. "I, we, have the power
to create anything with our imaginations. This was just an extension
of my power."

Yuki could
not believe what he was hearing from her. He shook his head
unwilling to believe that the years of memories he had with Ayumi
were just lies. 'I remember…it was real…' He looked
at her seeing the tone in her eyes that were telling a truth he could
not accept. "Why?! Why is this happening?"

"It's
because of you. My people have lost their leader and we're in
chaos without an heir. Or so we thought until I discovered you.
You're the rightful heir and the power you displayed is proof of
that. But some want control for themselves and you're a threat to
them. This won't end here. There will be more assassins, because
you hold the power to stop them!"

"But I
haven't done anything! I don't even know what you're talking
about."

"Ignorance
will not save you any longer. You're the rightful heir to my
people, your people, and the land of Atlantis."

To
be continued…

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